Starry Sky of Night
by thebeebeegun
Summary: Skye's parents were snatched by Seekers when she was 12. These days 22 year old Human Skye goes by Starry Sky of Night, blending in with the Souls with specially made contacts. 10 years after her parents' disappearance, the Seeker inhabiting her mother's body is after her. Jamie/OC, set 10 years in the future after the end of The Host.
1. Prologue

Far back in her younger memories, Skye could remember living under the stars that painted Georgia's sky at night when her parents were still human, were still with her. They had been on the run ever since she could remember until her parents were snatched by Seekers the day of her 12th birthday. They had a small celebration planned, nothing extravagant, but Skye never even got to eat a piece of cake. Her parents went out to get some stuff for her birthday and never returned.

Skye was old enough to know what happened. She was also old enough to know she couldn't stay in the same place anymore. She focused on all of the lessons of survival her parents had ingrained into her brain and knew a change of scenery and a change of character was needed if she wanted to live. She took on the persona of Starry Sky of Night to better blend in with the Souls and so she could have a daily reminder of her family. Her parents had a bountiful supply of contacts that were specially made to look like the Souls shimmery ring that appeared when a Human body was inhabited by a Soul. What better way to survive than to become one of the pack?

Skye left the backwoods Georgia scenery they took shelter in and headed to Atlanta while she was still young. As she was only 12, asking a Soul for a car or a ride across the country without older, guardian type Souls with her would probably raise some suspicions. Once she was 16, she knew she couldn't stay there anymore. She hightailed her way out of there on a bus under the guise of a young Soul heading off to travel the country and find work. The middle of the desert on the opposite side of the country seemed like the best place to hide while seamlessly blending in with the Souls. For the next 6 years, Skye lived in Phoenix, Arizona where she felt relatively safe and even became close with a Soul named Song of the Wind that lived in the apartment next to the vacant one she convinced the landlord to let her live in.

During a heart to heart with Song on her 20th birthday, Skye revealed her Human identity to her friend. Song had been friends with Skye for over four years at this point and immediately knew that all the things Seekers and other Souls in power said about Humans were wrong and not true at all. Song vowed to trust Skye and to protect her closest friend, regardless of the fact that she was a Human impersonating a Soul.

For 10 years Skye had lived on her own and had survived without any Seekers becoming suspicious of her. However, the Seeker inhabiting her mother's body wanted to find her and soon even the middle of the desert on the opposite side of the country would no longer be safe for her.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Skye rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as the sunlight streaming in through her window finally woke her up. She snuggled down under the blankets a little more as she rolled over in her bed. The clock on her nightstand alerted her that it was 9 am. She almost fell back to sleep before she remembered what day it was. She let a smile grow on her face as she silently wished herself a happy birthday before she let out a long yawn and stretched her limbs out. She got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. The tile floor was cold on her bare feet and it sent a small set of shivers through her body.

Skye looked very different than she had 10 years ago. In an attempt to conceal her true identity and blend in with the Souls as best she could, she changed more about her appearance that just her eyes. She colored her long hair jet black, which was a start contrast to the dirty blonde hair she had when her parents were still with her. She had hazel eyes that were a mix between brown and green and they liked to change colors depending on her mood or what she was wearing. Her taller than average 5'9" frame was still as thin as she'd always been. One year, she even decided to take a small swiss army knife she had and carved a scar into the back of her neck. She had to blend in with the Souls as much as possible.

After brushing her teeth and her hair, Skye put on the last part of her disguise. Once she had run out of the supply her parents had made for them, she taught herself how to make the contacts on her own. It was a complicated process, but it was worth it if it ensured her ability to blend in and her ultimate survival. She looked in the mirror after she'd secured the contacts in place and inside a ring of her natural hazel irises was that shimmery silver lining the outside of her pupils. She looked like a picture perfect Soul and with the help of Song when she first moved to Phoenix, she had learned how to better act like the Souls, too.

Skye always drove the speed limit, always wore modest and comfortable clothes, always adopted an air of calm and compliance when she was outside of her apartment, and always made sure all of her weapons were hidden from sight at all times. She would do almost anything to keep the Souls in this community from discovering her secret, that she was an imposter Human. Souls were fed so many barbaric stories about Humans. Some may have been true, but a lot were made up to ensure no ordinary Souls would go looking for Humans or pity them. There was no way Skye could have survived this long if she hadn't made herself to look like a Soul any time she was outside of her home.

Song was the only one who had seen her look and act like a Human. Skye knew it was risky to let a Soul know her secret, but it was hard living alone for so long and keeping something so important from the one friend she did have. Song promised to keep her and her secret safe from Seekers and other Souls in power in the community. Song had been cautious around Skye at first, simply because of all the story she had heard about Humans. Once she realized that Skye was no different from her, other than having very Human emotions and tendencies, she knew that she could trust her friend.

Skye tried to keep the occasional watch on the Souls that inhabited her parents' bodies, but once she learned her mother was inhabited by a Seeker it was too much for her to handle. Not only was it hard to handle, but it was also very risky. Her mother's memories would surely have revealed they had a Human daughter somewhere, so she knew she had to be smart. Hence why she decided on Phoenix.

She had lived in Phoenix for six years now and she was actually rather content with her life here. She had a very good friendship with Song who was really more like a sister to her, if she had to admit it. Skye had also become very comfortable with the community and the Souls all knew who she was. Of course, they knew her as Starry Sky of Night, but that just proved how well she blended in with the Souls.

Skye shook her head to pull herself out of her memories. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at what she saw. She looked very different than she had as a young girl, but she liked what she saw. Even though it was a disguise, she had grown used to seeing that shimmery silver ring her contacts provided in her eyes. Sometimes in the morning, her normal, Human eyes looked dull and weird to her, especially being around Souls all the time who also had the shimmery silver rings in their eyes. She was pretty proud of herself for adapting the way she had and hoped that if her parents could have been with her right now that they would have been very proud of her.

Skye moved through her room to get ready for the day. She pulled one of her customary tank tops she always wore from her dresser and put it on. Today she picked a black tank top to wear. She grabbed her favorite pair of blue jeans from the closet and slipped them on. Her comfy socks and black combat boots sat to the side of her bed, so she grabbed them as she sat down on the edge of her bed. As she was lacing up her boots she heard a knock on the other side of her wall, then 30 seconds later she heard a knock at her door. That was Skye and Song's special knock they had chosen so Skye could know if Song was coming over. If there was no knock on the wall before the knock on the door, then Skye knew to have her Soul composure ready when she answered the door.

As soon as Skye pulled open her front door, Song was wrapping her arms around her waist shouting happy birthday to her.

"Thank you so much. You're the best, best friend ever, Song!" Skye yelled back as she was released from Song's hug.

Skye motioned for her friend to walk in while she finished getting ready. The Human body Song inhabited was quite a bit shorter than Skye. She topped off at 5'3" and picked up her Human body's love for girly outfits and high heels. Even though she was in fact a Soul, Skye loved her. They had had many conversations about what it's like to be a Soul. Song had lived on five different planets before and confessed to Skye once that Earth and Human bodies and emotions was her favorite. Skye knew that Song didn't choose to be placed on Earth or to take over a Human's body. Skye only resented Seekers and the Souls in power, they were the real enemy.

Song was a very bubble and personable Soul, everybody in the community knew her and really enjoyed spending time with her. Song had shoulder length blonde hair with massive curls that matched her personality to a t. She also had bright blue irises that shown around that shimmery silver ring around her pupils. Song and Skye knew that sometimes Humans stay behind in their bodies and fight the Souls for control, but Song admitted truthfully that she had never heard a peep from her Human.

"Wow, I can't believe it's been 10 years," Skye uttered through a sigh as she flopped down on the couch in her living room.

"Do you still miss your parents?" Song asked as she looked at her friend with sympathy in her eyes.

"Yeah, I think I always will. It's just hard to think about sometimes," Skye admitted quietly.

"I'm sorry. I wish I knew how to take your pain away," Song told her friend, her voice thick with emotion.

"You really are a great friend, Song. Now, let's go celebrate my birthday!" Skye smiled widely as she jumped up from the couch.

Skye went and grabbed her things and a small cardigan from her bedroom. Once she returned to the living room, she set off with Song through the front door out into the delightfully sunny day. They decided to go to the store first a buy a birthday cake that they could decorate later together. So they both piled into Skye's car and sang along to the radio, laughing the whole way there.

Author's Note: Hello, lovelies! Bee here! I know this may seem a little slow, but I had to give more of Skye's back story. I hope you're enjoying it so far and I'll try to have the next chapter out very soon! The next one will be rather action packed, so I hope you stay tuned. Please review and let me know what you think, every review helps! :]


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Skye and Song had bright smiles on their faces as they made their way past two large canvas covered jeeps parked at the curbside. They entered the store and happily accepted the store's AC as it washed over them. Skye grabbed a basket and started pushing it up and down the aisles, searching for different birthday decorations. Song walked alongside Skye as they playfully argued over which sprinkles and icing would be better for the cake. As they turned the corner Song accidentally bumped into somebody.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She hastily called out, a blush covering her features.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," replied the girl Song had clumsily run into.

The girl standing before them was a rather petite Soul. She had thick blonde curls that were almost as bouncy as Song's were. She smiled to them both once more before she continued on her own path through the store. Skye laughed out loud once the girl was out of sight and Song had regained some of her composure. Before they could round the corner though, Skye's laughter was cut short when a picture on a bulletin board by the front door caught her eye.

Skye left the basket where it was and pulled Song by the arm over to the bulletin board with her. Song didn't know what was going on, but didn't question Skye due to the spooked, almost scared look in her friend's eyes. As they stopped in front of the bulletin board Skye let out a small gasp and carefully turned to Song.

"Song, that picture is what I would look like if I had never dyed my hair," Skye hurriedly explained, her voice barely masking her growing panic.

Song's eyebrows scrunched together as she leaned in toward the bulletin board a little further. Then her eyes got rather large the more she read. On the poster under the big bold letters of the word "WANTED" was a picture of her best friend, her Human best friend. Under the picture it read, "Skye Perkins is a Human wanted for impersonating a Soul. The last known records of her were from 10 years ago, this is a reproduction of what we think she may look like today." Song turned to her friend looking quite scared herself.

"We need to get out of here," Skye whispered shakily, former thoughts of her birthday celebration completely forgotten.

They left the store quickly, shuffled past the two jeeps that were still parked on the side of the curb. They looked like they were getting ready to load up as a few people exited the cabs of the jeeps, all of them wearing sunglasses. Once Song and Skye were safely around the corner of the building and out of sight of any Seekers or other Souls, Skye started to openly panic, almost on the verge of hyperventilating. As she struggled to calm her breathing, her mind started piecing together a plan.

"Skye, breathe. Everything's going to be alright," Song soothingly tried to calm her friend.

"I think I have a plan. It's a risky one, but it's a plan nonetheless," Skye said once she was calmed down again.

Skye looked at Song and started explaining the plan to her. The more she revealed to Song, the more confident she was that she could make it work. The more she revealed to Song, the more her friend's eyes widened exponentially, just as they had reading the wanted poster on the bulletin board inside the store. Skye took a deep breath and peeked around the corner of the building. There were no Seekers in sight and the crews from the two jeeps were just finishing packing up their loads. The girl with the bouncy blonde curls that Song had bumped into inside the store was sliding into the cab on the jeep in the front. Skye knew she had to take the chance now or the Seekers would put two and two together and figure out who exactly she was. Skye turned to her friend and hugged her tightly. Tears were filling Song's eyes as they pulled away from each other, but Skye knew she needed to go now.

"I promise I will keep your identity and your secret safe. No matter what it takes, I will help protect you," Song stated firmly as she looked at Skye with a raw determination in her eyes.

"Thank you so much. We will see each other again, so no time for crying," Skye promised her friend.

Skye shoved her car keys into Song's hand and told her to take care of her baby before she turned around to walk away from her friend. She casually walked down the sidewalk back toward the entrance of the store. As she passed beside the second jeep parked at the curb she heard both jeep engines rev to life. She quickly squatted low to the ground so they wouldn't spot her in their side view or rear view mirrors. Then she carefully grabbed on to a handle sticking off of the side of the tailgate where the side of the jeep's dark canvas covering was tied down.

She quickly untied the side of the covering and slipped under it, making sure no Seekers or Souls were watching her while she did this. She messily tied the flaps back down to the handle from the inside. She took a deep breath to calm herself once more trying not to overthink what she had just done. She lurched forward slightly as the jeep began to move and she wedged herself between two boxes to hide herself as best as she could.

"Happy birthday," Skye muttered in a sullen tone as she leaned her head back against another box.

**A/N:** Hello again, lovelies! Thank you so SO much to those of you who favorited and alerted this story. You are all so wonderful. I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. I'm sure you've all figured out whose jeep she stowed away in. Funny story, I had actually written out a scene by itself before I started writing the story of her ending up in the desert very similarly to how Wanda/Melanie had in the book, but as we all know stories sometimes write themselves and this idea just popped into my head once I started the whole chapter. I really like this idea better and I can't wait to hear what you guys thought. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought and any ideas for the future of this story. Thanks again!


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Somewhere along the ride, between the bumpy drive and the story she was coming up with in her head to tell once the people driving the jeep found her hiding, Skye had nodded off against the side of one of the boxes. She should have heard the voices before they untied the canvas covering of the jeep. She should have heard them moving boxes around. She didn't though and was snapped awake when she was roughly lifted into a standing position. Once she was fully awake she noticed that two men had firm grips on her upper arms and were staring down at her menacingly.

She went to open her mouth to explain the half ass story she had concocted about why she was there but they cut her off. That's when she noticed both men had Human eyes, there were no shimmery silver rings lining their pupils. Her eyebrows rose high above her eyes and she tried to speak again, but to no avail.

"Don't move, don't say a word," shouted the one holding her left arm, slightly shaking her as he did.

That's when Skye remembered she was wearing her Soul contacts still. Even if she tried to explain herself now they would never believe her. She clamped her mouth shut in shock of seeing other Humans and gulped heavily out of thirst and nervous anxiety. She had no idea there were other Humans still out there, definitely not as close as they were. She heard a collective gasp and turned her head to the source of the noise.

The group from the other jeep had rounded the back of the one she had stowed away in and were looking at her in astonishment. How had this girl gotten in their jeep without them noticing? What was she doing here? Was she a threat? Skye could read the questions they were all thinking plain on their faces. She refrained from saying anything though because the tight grips on her upper arms hadn't lightened up at all and she didn't know what this group of Humans might be capable of doing to her.

"Who is that?" asked a man who looked younger than the rest of the group.

"What's she doing here?" asked another man who was looking at her with wariness.

"None of that matters, she's a Soul. Nothing good could come from her being here," the man still holding her left arm growled sharply.

"Wait, I recognize her from the store. The girl she was with bumped into me," the girl with the bouncy blonde curls Skye remembered watching get into the first jeep said with recollection of the event back at the store with Song covering her features.

"But that doesn't explain what she's doing here, Wanda," stated the man who was holding her right arm, not quite as brutal as the man to her left but it was still obvious that he found Skye untrustworthy.

"Let's take her back to the caves, we've got to unload our stuff from the store anyway," suggested the younger boy outside the back of the jeep.

"Fine, but I'm taking her straight to Doc when we get there," responded the gruff man to her left.

Skye tried to keep her panic at bay as the two men got her down from the back of the jeep. She looked at her surroundings quickly and the sight of desert for miles around her did nothing to calm her nerves and fears. These people thought she was a Soul! Even though they had a Soul as a part of their crew, it didn't seem to matter. They knew that Soul, they trusted her. None of them knew who Skye was and they would never have assumed she was Human based on her current appearance. She was still taking in her surroundings when a blindfold was placed over her eyes, leaving her shrouded in darkness. Skye naturally started to resist, but her struggle was quickly stamped out when one of the men holding her put a thumb to the pressure point on her neck.

"Get her to Doc's office now," instructed Jared as he and Ian unceremoniously shoved the unknown girl into Jamie's arms.

Jamie knew by now not to question Jared, having lived with him for the better part of 10 years now he knew how to tiptoe around Jared's temper. Jamie readjusted the passed out girl in his arms and set off for the caves. Wanda walked alongside him with a look on her face that said she was deep in thought. She said she had seen this girl at the store, but how did none of them notice her get into the jeep? She had to have done it after they loaded the two jeeps, but that would only have a given her a few minutes to do it before they left. Whoever this girl was, Jamie was slightly impressed Soul or not.

"What do you think caused her to sneak into our jeep?" questioned Wanda quietly next to him, almost as if she was asking herself out loud.

"Who knows? I guess the best thing we can do is have Doc look her over like Jared suggested and ask her when she wakes up," Jamie answered logically, also curious to know the answers.

A few more minutes of walking and he and Wanda were approaching the entrance to the caves. Jamie carefully readjusted the girl once more, her dead weight making his arms rather tired. As they walked through the caves to Doc's office, they heard gasps of shock and concern from their fellow cave dwellers. Doc looked up from his desk at the back of the office as he heard shoes scuffing along the cave floor just down the hallway and jumped up from his seat as Jamie and Wanda rounded the corner.

"Who is this?" asked Doc with confusion covering his face.

"We don't know. She stowed away on our jeep while we were at the store," explained Jamie to Doc as he laid the unknown girl down on one of the hospital beds and took off the blindfold Jared had put on her outside.

"She's a Soul," gasped Doc as he opened her eyelids and shined a little flashlight into her eyes.

"She has a scar on the back of her neck. Should we try to extract the Soul from the body?" asked Doc as Jeb, Jared, Melanie, and Ian rounded the corner to Doc's office.

After they agreed that was the best course of action to take, Doc made sure the girl would stay asleep with the Sleep spray Wanda had stolen for them during her numerous faked doctor visits. He picked up a scalpel from his tool tray and sanitized it before carefully brushing the girl's hair away from her neck. He followed along the scar that was already there and started to extract the Soul the way Wanda had taught them to all those years ago. Doc, along with everyone else hovered around the hospital bed, took on a look of extreme misunderstanding when nothing happened. It was as if there was no Soul in this body at all. Her eyes though, how could they have that shimmery silver ring if she was a Human?

"I don't understand, what's going on?" asked Melanie who was leaning against an equally befuddled Jared.

"I have no idea. I've never seen this happen before," Doc replied.

"Heal her and take her to the cave where we kept Wanda and Melanie when they first came here. We'll question her when she wakes up," instructed Jeb from the other side of the hospital bed.

Everyone nodded and watched as Doc sprayed Heal over the cut on her neck. The cut and scar that was there previously healed and disappeared before their eyes. Jamie carefully lifted the girl once more and started carrying her to the little cave Jeb had told him to. Jared, Melanie, Ian, and Wanda followed him as he did so, talking amongst themselves about what was going on and how none of them could figure it out.

"I've never seen anything like this either. It doesn't make any sense," cried Wanda in frustration.

"It's alright, Wanda, we just need to wait until she wakes up," Ian said in an attempt to reassure and calm her.

"I don't see why we don't just off her now, she could be dangerous and we just brought her into our home!" grunted Jared as he stomped alongside the group.

It didn't matter that they had Wanda or had saved many Humans by extracting Souls over the past 10 years, Jared still never trusted Souls and always took the defensive when it came to them. With Wanda it was different because she was inhabiting Melanie's body. It was especially different once they discovered that Melanie was still alive, still inside her body even while Wanda was there, too. He didn't know this Soul, whatever kind of Soul it was. They had never seen this happen before, which caused him to be on guard even more than usual. As they reached the small cave, he watched Jamie lower the girl's body onto the slab of rock against the wall.

"We can't do that, Jared!" shouted Melanie as she reprimanded him for even thinking that.

"Yeah, she's a Soul, but that doesn't mean we kill her," yelled Ian as he subconsciously wrapped his arm around Wanda protectively and pulled her into his side.

"So? We don't know this girl!" Jared continued to argue with the group.

"How is this any different than when Wanda first got here?" questioned Jamie, still remaining close to the girl feeling the need to shield her from Jared.

"She was in Melanie's body. This girl means nothing to us," Jared spit out at them, as if he couldn't conceive why they didn't understand his side.

"Even from you that's a horrible thing to say," came Jamie's rebuttal.

"This girl means something to somebody else, Jared. We need to at least wait until she wakes up to find out who she is and why she's here in the first place," reasoned Melanie steadily as she ran her hand up and down his arm to calm him.

"Okay, fine. I'm sorry, but I'm not leaving this area until she's awake," Jared sighed as he relented and leaned against the small cave's entrance.

"Then we'll all stay," Jamie declared firmly as he sat on the other section of the rock slab where he had placed the unknown girl.

A/N: This story just keeps rattling around in my brain. I'm really enjoying writing it and I hope you're all enjoying reading it as well. Again, thanks to all of you who reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story! It really means a lot. :] Also, just so everyone knows and has a bit of a reference point, Jamie would be 24 in this story. I searched everywhere online for everyone else's ages and the best I could find was that Ian was in his mid-20's during the book. So, I'm going to say Melanie is around 29, Jared is around 32, Ian is around 34, and Wanda has only been in Pet's body for 10 years but that body would be around the same age as Melanie I would assume. Feel free to leave a review to let me know what you think so far. Thanks again!


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Skye's senses were starting to become more alert as her ears picked up muffled voices of people near her. As her hearing sharpened, she still couldn't make out the hushed voices and the ache in her back was proving to be a worthy distraction. She felt like she had slept on a rock. What in the world was going on? She went into a sharp coughing fit and squeezed her eyes shut, remembering why she was _actually_ sleeping on a rock. Her mouth was extremely dry, the torrid Arizona desert air now stuck in her throat was not helping in the slightest. She heard a male voice shout for someone to get water and heard light footsteps scurry away quickly as she tried to taking bigger gulps of air to slow her coughing. It worked a little, but now that someone had said the word water it was all her body could concentrate on, she needed it badly.

Skye felt a hand push her into a sitting position and as she regained some control over her breathing her eyes came into contact with deep brown eyes. She gasped and quickly pushed herself against the wall behind her and away from the man's touch. His eyes, they were brown, _just_ brown. How was that possible? That meant he was Human, like her! There had been Humans so close to her this whole time and she never knew. Then the rushed steps she had heard leaving the small cave moments before were back and the Soul Song had bumped into at the store appeared around the corner with a jug of water in her hands.

Skye accepted the offering without hesitation, her dry mouth and extreme thirst beating out her usual sense of caution and logic. The cold water soothed her aching throat and quenched her thirst. She looked around the occupants of the cave. The Soul still stayed near her, not seeming to be bothered by Skye at all. The man with the black, scruffy hair and admittedly hypnotizing brown eyes was still seated on the other section of the rock slab where he had been when he helped her sit up before. There were two men and a woman huddled around the entrance to the small cave, as if they didn't trust her and wanted to block her only way of escape. The two men in the entry looked much more cautious and wary of her than the rest of the group.

That's when Skye noticed that all of them were Human. Well, all except the Soul that was still leaning in front of her with a small, reassuring smile covering her delicate features. Skye lowered the jug of water from her lips careful not to spill any of it and took another deep breath as she scanned the small cave once more. She immediately remembered that she had her Soul contacts in like usual and understood why they had put her here and why they were looking at her the way they were. Before she could even get her thoughts together or open her mouth to say anything, one of the men in the entryway darted across the small expanse of the cave. Then he had his hand wrapped tightly around her thin neck and he shoved her further into the cave wall before the rest of the group could react.

"Wa- wait," Skye squeezed out around his snug grip on her throat as her hand automatically started clawing at his.

Skye felt relief and relished in the ability to breathe once more as she looked to see who removed her attacker. The two other men had pushed him back against the opposing wall and had each of his shoulders pinned against the wall tightly. The two women looked on with brief looks of shock at the man's actions before quickly recovering and moving to assist her. Skye shakily lifted the jug of water back to her lips and gulped down a big swig of the liquid. She was breathing heavily as she set the jug back down. The two women sat down on either side of her and the Human started rubbing her back to expel some of Skye's fear.

"You agreed that we would talk to her first," growled the blond man holding down the left shoulder of the man who had strangled her.

"Sorry, I let my feelings get the best of me," relented the man being held against the wall as he stopped struggling and his face darkened with guilt and impulsive remorse.

The two men released him and Skye didn't know what to do. She was afraid to say anything but she knew remaining silent would do her no good either. So she let her breathing and heart rate return to normal levels as she took another sip from the jug of water at her side. Once she regained her composure her hand raised to her throat and she rubbed lightly where it was already starting to bruise a little. She guardedly lifted her eyes and looked around the circle of people surrounding her, gauging in her head the best way she should approach this situation. Would they even believe her?

"Does anybody have eye drops and a bowl or a cup?" Skye asked nervously, figuring showing them would work better than telling them.

"Uh, I can go ask Doc," suggested the Human woman who had previously been stroking her back.

As she got up she pulled the man that had assaulted Skye roughly by the upper arm and made him go with her. Skye remained carefully quiet as she continued to scan the increasingly familiar faces surrounding her. She looked over the Soul with the blonde curls and wondered how she had come to live amongst this group of Humans, who clearly trusted her. Skye concluded it was more than just trusting her the group did when the blond man across from her took the Soul's hand in his own and intertwined their fingers together. That's not something Skye saw every day, that's for sure. Lastly her eyes settled on the younger man sitting to her right. His hair was messy, but not in a bad way and it was black like hers. She liked it, the hair color suited him and his desert sun kissed complexion. As her hazel eyes clashed with his brown eyes once more, the two Humans who had left to get what she asked for returned.

"Doc said he only had a petri dish so hopefully that works," the woman explained as she passed the dish and a squirt bottle of eye drops to Skye.

"That'll work well enough. Thank you," Skye replied as she set the dish in her lap and carefully tipped her head back.

Skye let two eye drops fall in to both of her eyes, her dry eyes enjoying the feel of them. Then she picked up the petri dish and filled it about halfway with the eyes drops before she carefully plucked one of her contacts out and placed it in the solution. As she reached to take the other contact out, she could hear the group around her inhale suddenly and she could feel the surprise rolling off of each of them. Once she placed the other contact in the dish, she set it aside and raised her head to look at everyone once more.

Skye could see everyone's astonishment plain as day, but they also showed many other different emotions on their faces. The Soul looked at her with a small smile, like she had sensed that Skye was a Human all along. The blond man next to the Soul looked like he just couldn't believe it. The Human woman that sat across from her looked excitedly shocked, like it was the best news she'd heard all week. The man who had choked Skye before looked absolutely horrified, a mix of that guilt and impulsive remorse from before was intensified tenfold now. Then she made eye contact with the brown eyed man whose eyes had held her captive so strongly before and she could see a look on his face that showed he was impressed with her.

"I was starting to develop a hunch. It makes so much sense now," the Soul squealed happily as she clapped her hands in front of her.

"What do you mean?" Skye asked, her eyebrows scrunching together.

"Oh, we know how to extract Souls from Human bodies. We tried to do that when we first brought you in, but nothing happened. None of us had ever seen that before and since you had the silver rings in your eyes we didn't even stop to think that you might be Human," explained the Human woman across from me.

"Oh…" Skye uttered softly as she raised her hand to the back of her neck and where her scar was previously was now only smooth skin, "How did you do that?"

"Wanda goes to the Doctor in town every now and again and steals us some of the Soul-made medicines they use there. Heal takes care of all cuts and scars. The Souls can come up with pretty awesome stuff when they aren't taking over Human bodies," rattled off the man to the Soul's, Wanda's, right she was still holding hands with.

"That's pretty ingenious actually. I've just been disguising myself as a Soul for the past 10 years, you guys actually have one with you!" Skye enthusiastically responded.

"As you probably figured out, I'm Wanda," recited the Soul.

"Yeah, I remember you from the store when Song bumped into you," Skye nodded, trying not to let the sadness show through her features as she thought about her friend.

"Song?" questioned the man to Skye's right.

"Yes, my friend Song of the Wind. She's a Soul, but she's a good one I promise. She's protected my secret that I am a Human for the last two years and I've been friends with her for six, ever since I first moved to Phoenix," Skye clarified.

"Wow, that's so cool! I'm Ian, by the way," said the man still holding hands with Wanda as he raised his other hand to shake Skye's in greeting.

"I'm Skye. Out there in the Soul world I liked to go by Starry Sky of Night though, goes along with the blending in deal," she told them as she happily shook Ian's hand.

"I'm Melanie. We don't see a lot of other Humans around this area, so sorry for the third degree before," she muttered as she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"That's my sister for ya, shoot first and ask questions later," quipped the boy to my right jokingly, "I'm Jamie by the way."

"I'm Jared and I'm extremely sorry. If I had known-" Jared spit out quickly, his eyes looking down to where the bruise on Skye's throat was continuing to deepen.

"It's okay, honestly don't worry about it. I would have done the same thing, I'm sure," Skye said as she cut Jared off.

"So, why exactly _were_ you stowing away in our jeep?" questioned Jamie and everyone nodded in agreement.

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**A/N:** Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! She's officially met the main crew and they now know she's Human. Silly Jared, always resorting to violence! First, I want to clear up some confusion for one of my reviewers (and other readers who may be thinking the same thing). Maybe this chapter helped explain the timeline a litter better too, but just in case. The reviewer was wondering why Skye was 20 when I also said in the story that she was 12 years old 10 years ago. That part in the prologue was explaining when Skye told Song she was a Human for the first time. It stated in the summary that Skye is 22 in the story and in the prologue said that she left Atlanta when she was 16 and for the next six years lived in Phoenix. At the point in time when Skye told Song her secret (on her 20th birthday) it said that she had been living in Phoenix for four years, so that took place two years before the story starts. The events in the prologue happened before the story officially starts. Sorry again for any confusion, and hope that makes better sense. If you have any other questions or just want to let me know what you thought, please leave a review. I look forward to every one. Of course once again, thank you to those who reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story! You rock!


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Two weeks had already passed since that day she was yanked out of the jeep and escorted down into the caves. Two weeks had already passed since she shared her story with the cave dwellers. Two weeks had already passed since she had seen Song. Two weeks had already passed since she had been outside of the caves at all. And yet Skye still didn't know what to do. She still felt like the odd man out, just observing the cave dweller population from the outside. Even though she completely understood his reaction to her arrival, she still didn't quite trust Jared either. She got along with Wanda and Jamie, but she didn't want to cling to their sides or pester them too much. After spending so much time on her own, on the run, working hard to blend in seamlessly with the Souls, she just didn't know how to fit in with other Humans anymore or how to adjust to them.

Skye was laying amidst a portion of already harvested field, admiring the way the sunlight was streaming in and reflecting off the mirrors. Sun was almost setting, so the workers were all done for the day. That left Skye to enjoy the peace of nature within the man-made, underground field without having to worry about the awkward stare of the cave dwellers or that ever present feeling of not belonging. She let her eyelids drift closed and eased her worries out of her mind, even if for a few moments. She focused on her breathing and the feel of the small breeze creeping in from around the mirrors at the top of the cave.

Skye was abruptly startled when she heard a noise quickly approaching her body. She barely had a chance to open her eyes and had no chance to react before a soccer ball rolled into view and hit her in the head. She heard someone curse as she heaved herself into a sitting position and carefully put a hand to her head. She winced slightly as she could already feel the spot of impact becoming tender.

"Sorry! I didn't see you laying there, are you okay?" Jamie asked in a panicky tone as he rushed to where Skye was now sitting.

"Yeah. No worries. You startled me more than anything. A little bruise to the noggin won't take me down," Skye jokingly reassured Jamie as she watched him pick up the soccer ball, "Why do you have a soccer ball anyway?"

"Well, I was actually on my way to play a game with some other people if you wanted to join," Jamie kindly explained as he extended a hand to help her up.

"Umm, sure. Thanks. I have to admit though, the last time I played soccer was a long time ago. I doubt I'm any good," Skye confessed as she accepted Jamie's help standing.

"Not a problem. Not everybody can be as good as I am anyway," Jamie teased as he led to way to where the rest of the group was congregating to play.

"Oh, I'll believe it when I see it, tough guy," Skye threw back at him as she laughed at him.

The two had grown close over the last two weeks that Skye had been there. Not only because there weren't a whole lot of kids in their age bracket down in the caves, but also because Skye just felt naturally pulled to Jamie. He was nice and made her transition to living in the caves a little bit easier. It also didn't hurt that she thought he was pretty cute, although she would never say that to his face. It was nice not having to pretend to be a Soul all the time, but her thoughts still tended to drift toward Song. Skye hoped that she had gotten away that day at the store and that she was okay. Skye was hoping she could tag along the next time the group headed into town for supplies. One, so she could get some stuff she needed from her apartment and two, so she could check on Song. Skye was pulled from where her mind had wandered as they rounded a corner and saw the usual group plus a few extras waiting for Jamie to show up with the ball.

"It's about time, slow poke! Nice to see you join us, Skye," Melanie yelled at her younger brother playfully and nodded in Skye's direction.

"Well, after this guy decided to kick me in the head with the ball I figured the least I could do was come play with everyone," Skye said and she let a smile grow on her face as she looked to see Jamie sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"I said I was sorry!" Jamie shouted before anyone missed the fact that Skye didn't seem too upset about it and started to get on his case for it.

"And I said it was all good, but it's funny to put you on the spot. Tough guy over here thinks he's the best player there is," Skye again joked.

"Is that so? Seems he's forgetting who the reigning champs are!" quipped Jared and Ian from the other side of the group.

"It was one time! I'd like to see you try it again," Jamie challenged the two older men.

Everyone split off into two teams. Skye insisted on being on Jared and Ian's team, opposite Jamie, just so she could rub it in his face afterward if they won. Melanie and Wanda went to Jamie's team and the rest of the people who had joined to play added themselves to the mix. Skye may not have played soccer, or any sports at all really, since before everything happened but that didn't mean she wasn't going to go down without a fight. Her goal was not to go down at all, but she'd have to wait and see how things went once they all actually started playing. As they all circled the field to start off the game, she met Jamie's eyes and narrowed her eyes. Skye let a laugh break through and smiled at him as the game started.

The game was tied at 1-1 as the group decided to take a water break. The game was intense and Skye was having a lot of fun playing. She was better than she thought she would be after so many years without any real practice. She attempted to regulate her breathing back to normal as she drank some of the water that Jeb and some other spectators had brought with them. She may not have felt like she fit in yet, but she was actually starting to like it down in the caves. It felt good, it felt safe, and she already felt so much happier than she could remember being in a long time. The transition may have been a little awkward, what with her stowing away in the group's jeep and all, but she knew that she wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

"I guess it's going to be sudden death after this, huh?" Jamie said as he got some water for himself to drink.

"Oh you don't even know," Skye argued as she lightheartedly pushed him.

"It's on!" Jamie shouted to her as everyone headed back on to the field to finish the game.

"Next team to score a point wins," Jared explained as everyone got in their rightful spots on the field.

Skye was aggressive from the get-go. She wanted to beat Jamie, if only so she could rub it in his face. She couldn't let him get away with such a cocky attitude, even if he had been joking. She was too competitive for something like that. Melanie was approaching her with the ball and Skye shot into action. She slid past Melanie and took the ball with her as she went. She headed down to the other end of the field, trying to stay a step ahead of the other players. She could tell by the breathing that Jamie was the one behind her. She reared back to kick the ball and as her foot connected with it she felt Jamie collide with her side. He had his foot out, going for where the ball had been previously, and he slipped on the grass and lost his traction. He took Skye down with him as he fell.

He was awkwardly straddling her as he sat up and Skye tried to hide the blush sneaking onto her cheeks as she tried to sit up as well. The two of them snapped back to reality as they heard cheers and footsteps heading their way. They turned their heads to see that Skye's kick was good and had landed right inside the goal. Skye shouted victoriously as she jumped to her feet. Jamie let his jaw drop for a second before he managed to pick himself up off the ground.

"Ha! How's that for being the 'best player'?" Skye sarcastically roared as she did a silly little victory dance around Jamie.

"Fine, fine. You beat me," Jamie conceded sounding a defeated, but he had a smile on his face nonetheless, "You're not allowed to use the 'I haven't played in forever, I'm probably not any good' card anymore."

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**A/N:** Hey, you cools cats! You guys seriously rock! Sorry it's been a while since I last updated. I went to visit my boyfriend right after the last chapter and then I got sick and now I'm visiting my boyfriend again. However, this time I actually brought my laptop so I could write some more for you guys. Thank you so much for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. It seriously means the world to me. I'm so glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. This chapter was just something a little fun and fluffy. I also wanted something with soccer involved because that was one of my favorite parts of the book and they left it out of the movie! As always, feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think. Until next time!


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